In today's open source roundup: Gnome 3.14 might be bringing users back from other desktops. Plus: Why are command line interfaces still popular? And a preview of the gaming distro Play Linux
The Gnome desktop has had a rough last few years. The transition from Gnome 2 to Gnome 3 left a bad taste in the mouths of many Gnome users, and some abandoned Gnome for other desktops. But PC World thinks that Gnome 3.14 could be just what the doctor ordered to bring some of those users back to the Gnome desktop.
Linux distributions started to bail. Ubuntu thought they could do better, so they made their own Unity desktop. In 2013, Debian switched to their more traditional Xfce desktop as their default, partly because it was a more familiar experience for Gnome 2 users. It wasn’t just Linux distributions, either—many Linux users at the time had negative reactions and looked for other desktop environments.
Well, if you haven’t tried it in a while, Gnome 3 has improved. Performance is now good. Debian just switched back to Gnome as their default desktop, partly because its accessibility and systemd integration was better than Xfce’s, but the interface has improved enough to make those considerations possible.
I used to be a huge fan of Gnome, and then I too moved away from it when it changed to Gnome 3. But I'm very glad to see that it has recovered and improved, it was sad seeing it go into decline by losing so many users. It's far too important a project to dwindle away into obscurity, and I hope PC World is right that Gnome 3.14 will begin to regrow Gnome's user base.
